Luo Yingbai scratched his nose: “Just… actually, the two you eat every day are fruits, not cake. The cake… well, I ate them all.”
Xia Xianning snorted.
Luo Yingbai looked at him for a moment, shocked: “Why aren’t you surprised? Did you always know?”
Xia Xianning, who had been helping him eat those fruits for so long without getting angry, was now almost laughing from anger: “Those two things are exactly the same. You tell me one is cake, one is snow fruit. Do you think I’m an idiot?”
Luo Yingbai had indeed thought he was stupid.
He scratched his head: “Then, you always knew, so why did you keep eating?”
Xia Xianning, who had been temperamental since childhood, raised an eyebrow: “What do you think?”
Luo Yingbai blinked and said flatteringly, “Hehe, I was wrong. You’re the smartest, smarter than me.”
Xia Xianning: “Indeed.”
However, before he could close his mouth after saying those two words, he suddenly felt something bump against his lips, followed by a sweet taste spreading in his mouth.
Xia Xianning was stunned: “What did you put in my mouth?”
Luo Yingbai licked his lips, reluctant to part with it: “There’s one sugar left in my pocket. It’s yours now.”
Xia Xianning bit it. The sugar was milk-flavored and quite tasty. Before he could slightly soften his expression because of the candy, a bloody smell followed.
Xia Xianning: “!!!”
Luo Yingbai, seeing his strange expression, quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Xia Xianning said nothing, spitting blood on the ground, with a small white tooth in it.
Luo Yingbai had also lost his baby teeth, but this was the first time he’d seen such a bloody exchange. Shocked for a while, he stammered, “Xianning, why are you spitting blood? Does it hurt?”
Xia Xianning crouched looking at his tooth, his brow originally furrowed. Just about to speak, he turned and saw Luo Yingbai’s face full of worry.
The words at the tip of his tongue changed to: “It’s okay.”
Xia Xianning had lost a front tooth, speaking with a slight lisp: “Teeth will still grow. You also lost quite a few before.”
Luo Yingbai, looking at his blood, felt very sad and stopped teasing, saying weakly, “Yeah.”
It was indeed very cold. After speaking, Xia Xianning sneezed. Luo Yingbai opened his wrapped blanket: “Come in. It’s so cold. Let’s wrap ourselves together, and you won’t feel uncomfortable.”
Xia Xianning went over, and the two children nestled together, both feeling much warmer.
…
Decades later, in their shared home, Luo Yingbai closed a small box he’d pulled from a drawer, filled with Xia Xianning’s baby teeth from back then.
He turned back and smiled at Xia Xianning: “See, junior brother? This is how my advantages aren’t easily taken. Eat one of my candies, and you’ll pay with a tooth.”
Xia Xianning was already lying in bed and, without looking, casually replied, “Yes, your advantages are indeed not easily taken. To have you, one must pay with a life and a heart.”
Luo Yingbai was stunned, then burst into laughter, running to the bedside to pinch Xia Xianning’s cheek: “Tsk tsk, kid, you’ve learned now, huh? Your eloquence is getting better. Hurry up and kneel down to thank your senior brother!”
(end)
